ot so
much impressed by the gravity of the threatening evil, in case they did
lose their highly valued canoes. He would begrudge the loss of his
blanket and some other articles more than anything else, as they had
memories connected with them of dead and gone events, in which he and
some of the other boys of the trip had figured.

As they pushed on every little while they could catch glimpses of the
talking smoke signals in the rear. Doubtless the fire that was supplying
the smoke for this method of communicating with the distant posse had
been built on the side of the hill in which the mine lay. That would
account for their being able to see it for such length of time.

"Must be giving a whole history of the _awful_ disaster," Jimmy
muttered, after he had turned for the sixth time to see the smoke still
waving in fantastic wreaths against the sky.

"Slow-pokes, that's what," ventured Teddy. "Why, when I was a mere
tenderfoot I could send messages better than that."

"Don't find fault," advised Jack. "The longer it takes the signal man to
send on his news, the better chance we'll have of slipping away before
any trap can be laid or sprung, don't you see?"

"And as we're first-class scouts," said Jimmy, boastfully, "why, we're
able to beat such dubs, with one hand tied behind our backs."

Perhaps all the others agreed with the speaker, even though no one
voiced his sentiments just then. Jimmy was well calculated to do all the
boasting for an entire party on occasion; but then he meant all he said.

Pretty soon Frank made a discovery that caused him to break loose and
voice his surprise.

"Why, Ned, we don't seem to be heading down towards the big bay?" he
observed.

"That's right, Frank," came the quiet answer.

"But I thought we'd surely have to follow the trail back there, just as
we came?" Frank continued, as though sorely perplexed.

"We would," the patrol leader informed him, "if we were going back the
same way we came, because it would be necessary to get in touch with our
blazed trail, meaning all those landmarks we noted so carefully when
coming on."

"What's that, did we have all that trouble for nixey?" blurted out
Jimmy.

"Don't say for nothing, Jimmy," urged Ned; "because when you've gone to
work and stored a lot of things up in your mind like we did, you've been
exercising your memory, and that's always a splendid thing to do. We
certainly noticed a bunch of queer growths in the woods as we c